Radioactive
by ToffeeandFudge
Summary: 16 year old Clary Fray is living in a nuclear damaged world. Her mother was murdered before her eyes and now she has become cold and hostile towards everyone who crosses her path. But that's until she meets the extraordinary golden boy called Jace. Can he be the one to help her heal and become the loving girl she once was? futuristic. Rated M for a reason! violence, lemons and rape
1. Chapter 1

Radioactive

**_WELL HEY THERE! So this is my first ever fanfiction and I'm really nervous about it, so if you would be the most awesome people ever and review (and maybe favorite/ follow if you enjoy ;) )And tell me what you'd like to see in this story or whether it's good or bad then please go ahead! Any feedback would be awesome :D I must add warning that this story will have a lot of violence and lemons in future chapters. Finally I must say that I cannot promise regular updates as I'm in my final year of school and doing my GCSE's and dayuum, it's stressful. So I won't always have time to update due to the large amount of homework I get (sigh) but anyways! On with ze story!_**

CLARY'S POV

I looked out onto the dusty, abandoned wreck that is New York. The world is an all-round wreck now because of the nuclear war anyway. Now the world is dying out and I am one of the few thousands that remain in this world. I bet you're wondering how I survived something that destroyed billions of people? The answer to that is that I'm lucky. My grandparents were rich and fortunate enough to buy themselves into one of the underground vaults that protected them from the radiation. It was their, and many others, priority to have as many children as possible to repopulate the earth after it was bombed. Unfortunately my mother was an only child, but she had conceived two children with our father; me and Jonathon

Jonathon had been a good brother to me, but I had always sensed something darker in him. My conclusion has been correct because he was the one who opened the vault with our father, Valentine, after ninety six years of living in there, we were informed to stay in there for at least a hundred years, to steer clear of any remaining radiation, but clearly another four years was a four years too long. After they had opened the vault (which still to this day no one knows how) they had fled, leaving me and my mother, Jocelyn to fend for ourselves. When the population of my vault (vault 166) decided to escape it was a bloodbath. There were savage people waiting nearby with weapons, that are named Raiders, and they live in packs of large numbers. They are the people who have been affected by small amounts of radiation that was not strong enough to kill them, but strong enough to send them to the brink of insanity and make them constantly blood thirsty.

The bloodbath resulted in my mother's death. She had shielded me from a female raider and saved my life. I only followed my instincts when she told me to run, but when I had turned around all I saw was the raider leaning over my mother with a savage grin as the only person I could trust and love crumpled to the floor. Stone cold dead.

Now two years later, I haven't cried since that day, I distanced myself from other people and stayed away from the large groups that have built towns for themselves as defense against raiders and the all of the other mutated creatures that live in this ruined world. I believe that on my own I'm stronger, more emotionally detached, and that's just how I like it. I have a protective shell built around me, people see me as a hostile bitch and it keeps them away. I don't need anyone, I haven't since I was fourteen and now I'm sixteen. And somehow, I'm still alive.

So here I am now, perched atop a hill looking down at the barren land watching a group of four people fight, I must admit they're doing well against a pack of fifteen raiders. Unfortunately good is not enough though, they'll be dead soon enough. One of the four catches my eye especially though, he's a tall male with blonde hair that falls in gold locks to his neck. The sun glints off it as he fights with the grace of a ballerina but the ferocity of a lion. He is beautiful even from this distance. I've never seen anyone fight like him before; he cuts through the raiders like a hot knife through butter, like they're mere insects to him.

The problem is that the rest of his group cannot fight with the same stamina and speed as he does; they seem to be excellent fighters, but not good as the golden boy. No matter how good he is, he cannot take on a pack of fifteen raiders alone, not even I could and his group is fighting far too slowly to ever be able win this.

Never in the two years that I have roamed the outside world have I ever felt compelled to help people like these, I have only ever watched and waited till they had been killed by the raiders and taken the ammunition, weapons and food that is left behind by the dead. I do what I have to do to survive, even if that means letting others be killed for me. Like I said, I'm emotionally detached from the world, I'm a heartless bitch.

So what I do next is unexplainable, I pull the rifle from my back, lie on my stomach, load the gun with ammo, look down the scope and aim for the closest raider near golden boy that's about to attack him from behind. My finger trembles on the trigger, "what am I doing?" I whisper to myself. The thought is soon forgotten when I fire my loaded gun.

JACE'S POV

It soon dawns on me that we will not win this fight. If I had realized this sooner we would have been able to retreat, but I was a fool, we were in too deep now **_(That's what she said XD)_**. **_No matter_**, I thought. **_If I will die today then I will not do it in vain_**. I continued to fight my targeted raider and I knew my friends were thinking the same as me from the heavy breathing and loud cursing coming from them, mainly Izzy with the cursing. I smiled to myself, even when faced with death; my friends refuse to be afraid.

I plunged my blade into the raider's chest and he dropped to the ground dead. I was about to turn around to look for my next target but I was too slow. A raider attacked me from behind; looping is weapon clad hand around my neck, his rusted knife pressed against my tight throat. I could smell his breath, the smell of rot and the sharp smell of iron that comes from blood, the smell so strong I could almost taste it. His voice was low and he whispered to me "Any last words little boy?" I could tell he was smiling and it made me feel sick. I was about to open my mouth to make a sarcastic comment when I heard a loud gunshot. I froze as the raiders arms went limp around my neck, his knife dropping and clattering onto the floor.

Within seconds I spun around to find the raider dead on the floor, a bullet clean through his head. I then looked for whoever shot the gun, my savior, I saw was a small dark figure on the top of a hill around a hundred yards away, the person didn't seem to be looking in my direction however, he/she was too busy shooting the rest of the raiders. One after another dropped to the floor, each time with a bullet to the heart or head. There was only one more raider remaining after the quick round of shooting. The person on the hill then waved their hand, gesturing for us to take the final kill. I didn't hesitate. I took out a small sharp knife and threw it, embedding it into the raider's chest.

Alec, Izzy and Magnus then approached me, all covered in blood and sweat, some of the blood their own, but no one had major injuries. We had escaped death, and it was not the first time either.

We then all looked up in sync to the small figure that had saved us. It appears that our savior was female, she was now stood looking down on us and she looked short even at a distance. But with shooting like that, I knew despite her size, that she would be formidable. As we watched her from afar she began to strap her rifle to her back and pick up her bag, she then began to walk away from us. I was determined to not let this girl get away without at least thanking her, so I began the chase after her, the others right on my tail.

CLARY POV

I turned around for one more glimpse and saw golden boy and his friends running towards me **_shit shit shit! I have to get away from these people! _**I thought, **_I can't let these people near me, they'll thank me and be kind towards me, maybe even invite me to join their group, I can't let it happen, no feelings towards people right? Right. Just stick with that Clary, be a hostile bitch like you always have. _**I hear one of them shout after me, the dark haired girl by the sounds of it. **_Why did I have to save them?! What's wrong with me?! I've NEVER done that before, I don't even know these people and I've wasted precious ammunition on them. I'm such a fool, such a goddamn fool! _**I turned to see how far away they were and the blonde boy was only a matter of meters away. **_How did that bitch catch up with me so quickly?!_** I tried to speed up but he had already launched himself at me, shoving me to the ground with him on my back. "shit!" I cursed as I landed on a rock which will probably leave bruises on my ribs later.

"Sorry redhead, but I couldn't just let you get away without thanking you" Goldilocks said and I could tell that he was wearing a smirk as he said it. I was preparing the most evil death glare I could manage as I rolled out from under him, but when I saw his face and locked eyes with him my barrier faltered, then dropped.

His eyes and face did the same as mine, they locked on and we were staring into each others eyes. Emerald green on sunshine gold. He was even more stunningly attractive up close. His high cheek bones and sharp features only added to his beauty, his mouth was slightly parted in a little o. I stared into his eyes as he searched my face, looking at my eyes, lips, cheeks. My everything.

I was first to snap my gaze away, and look at his accompaniments. I first studied the girl, she was beautiful too. She had long black hair tied into a ponytail that reached her waist, high cheek bones and a small upturned nose like my own. She was far prettier than most girls I had laid eyes upon, and it made me somewhat envious of her.

Next I looked to a boy who had similar features to the girl, **_her brother_** I thought. He too had the same black hair and the same ocean blue eyes, and broad strong shoulders; they were all very beautiful people.

Finally my eyes fell to a tall, slim, Asian looking man with feline looking green eyes with large gold flecks. He had fine black hair that was neatly cut which I found surprising considering that we're living in an apocalyptic world.

I then looked up at golden boy who had already gotten up and brushed himself off. His arm was outstretched, offering to help me up with **_that _**smirk on his face. I stood up, facing the group, without taking the boys hand. I had let my defensive barrier down earlier, but they were back up again. Well, mostly.

I decided to give this unusual group a chance to explain why they pursued me, then, I would leave again.

"Well it's a little late for introductions, but I'm Jace" Jace held out his hand and this time I took it.

"Clary" I said, knowing I was going to be overjoyed and regretful that I ever met Jace Herondale and his friends.

**_Okay! So that was chapter one! I know its pretty slow starting but I've never written fanfiction before so give me a little chance ;) This story will contain future smut, violence and potentially rape, so if you are affected by these things please stop reading because I don't want to offend anyone :) x_**

**_Review_**

**_-ToffeeandFudge_**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**_You guys are awesome! I had way more views and followers than I thought id get with 5 chapters! I know it doesn't seem a lot but that's incredible to me. You are all officially 'da baes' :3_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own the mortal instruments or any of the characters, even Jace *gross sobbing*_**

**_Shout out to Jling! My first follower on this story! :D_**

CLARY'S POV

I release Jace's hand and turn to the remaining three, the girl; Isabelle, or Izzy as she prefers, introduces herself. Then the boy who I had correctly assumed to be Izzy's brother tells me his name is Alec and then introduces me to his boyfriend Magnus; the tall skinny one with the dark hair.

As I look through at this peculiar group, my brain assaults me with multiple questions. But I push them aside; I cannot let my curiosity get the better of me. Jace then speaks

"I'm sorry I landed on you, but we just wanted to thank you for saving our lives, very few people would ever do that for complete strangers" he speaks in a humored voice but then towards the end of his sentence he sounds softer; more thankful.

"it was nothing, now if you don't mind, I must be on my way" I replied smoothly, but what I really meant was **_I need to get away from you people before you start being nice and asking questions._**

Jace raised and eyebrow in humor and confusion. **_That bitch can raise his eyebrow?! Why can everyone but me do that?! And he looks even more attractive when he does it… _**I mentally slapped myself; I can't let those kind of thoughts get into my head.

"Where's your group Clary? Surely it would be unwise to leave them and to be walking around at sunset, its prime raider hunting time" Jace said as I turned away from him "we can escort you back to your group, it wouldn't be a problem considering what you did for us".

"I don't have a group" I growled under my breath. These people were starting to ask questions just like I predicted, by now I would have sprinted off, but something planted my feet to the ground, with my back to the group of people I was becoming increasingly attached to; the group I knew basically nothing about. I didn't know their stories, or where they came from, the suffering and pain that the war caused them. I didn't know them, and yet, I felt a tugging force, holding me close to these people, a force I hadn't felt in two years since I was running out of the vault with my mother.

I felt Izzy put her hand on my shoulder, and surprisingly I didn't flinch away like I normally would. I glanced down at her hands, compared to her beautiful face, they are dry, cracked and sore with cuts; **_fighters hands_** I think.

"Clary, what do you mean you don't have a group? You look no older that 17, how on earth could you survive without other people?" she asked with concern.

And then I couldn't take it anymore. And just as the two year old emotions were about to unravel into a big mess, I dropped to the floor, seeing black spots in my vision, until they consumed everything.

JACE'S POV

I didn't watch the short pretty redhead with the emerald green eyes, freckles and upturned nose drop to the floor, I caught her instead. I turned her face to see if she was okay but her eyes were closed. I gazed upon her young face that before, when she was awake, looked like it had been withered with stress and sorrow. In sleep she seemed so peaceful, that all her barriers had fallen down. Now she looked like a child in my arms, and that only made my affection for her grow even more. I don't know what it is about Clary, but there's something that draws me to her, it's like the spark that I first felt when I looked into her eyes.

Magnus quickly came over and checked her pulse; he being the closest thing to being a doctor we had.

"I think she's suffering from dehydration, her mouth and nose are dry and her eyes are and cheeks are sunken" Magnus stated. And he was right; she looked awful now I looked at her health wise.

"Do we have any water that we could give her?" I asked Alec, he passed me a bottle out of his bag and I pried open Clary's full, chapped lips and trickled the water into her mouth, gently rubbing her throat so she would swallow it. She did and I turned to Magnus.

"What are we going to do with her now?" I asked him.

"Bring her with us obviously, we can't just leave an unconscious girl alone in this barren wasteland, and plus, if what she says is true, then she has no one to take care of her. It sounds like she doesn't have a single person in this world. Just like how we used to be Jace".

"And she also has a mean shot with a gun" Izzy chuckled, "She could become a valued member of this group, after all, it is said that strength comes in numbers".

We then discussed where we were staying until Clary recovered. It was decided that we'd stop at the nearest town, despite them never being fully stable, it was better than staying outside with the radiation affected creatures with an unconscious teenage girl. I decided to carry Clary so Alec helped me put her on my back to she was in a position of a piggyback.

Luckily we only had to walk roughly a mile to the next town. And it wasn't difficult with Clary's small frame on my back either. We stuck to the shadows so we wouldn't be seen and covered ground quickly.

We knocked on the rusted gates and were checked before we entered the town. The towns have never been stably built; most were made out of mere asbestos sheeting or wood planks that had been salvaged and screwed together.

We stayed at what you would call a hotel, but really, it was a pile of wood nailed together that smelt of crap and sweat inside. I lay Clary on one of the beds that were in rows like in old hospitals before the war, we all then helped ourselves to our own beds that also smelt like crap and sweat. I picked the bed next on the right to Clary and Alec sat on her left. As soon as my head hit the pillow, my eyes fluttered shut with exhaustion.

I assumed I woke in the early hours of the morning as I could see that it was dark outside and the stars were still out. I was woken by the sounds of muttering and cursing and as I turned my head to the source of noise, I saw Clary pulling on her boots and evidently struggling like her leg was in pain. She hadn't noticed me yet so I decided to watch her get frustrated, it was actually kind of cute, and her freckles were more prominent because her cheeks were flushed with red that matched her fiery hair. She glanced up and watched me, keeping eye contact for an awkward amount of time and then looked at the floor, lightly blushing.

I pulled myself out of bed and knelt to the floor. "Let me help you" I lightly took her ankle and she winced.

"I think I sprained my ankle" she said quietly "But I can manage, don't worry".

"Why are you leaving Clary?" I asked, and she looked taken aback by my question.

"I can't stay here Jace, I can't be the reason you are all burdened down because of my problems. Already I feel like I'm going to be a problem for you all and none of you need that".

"How can you say that? We'd all be dead by now if it weren't for you!" I said insistently.

"**_That_** was a mistake. I **_never_** do things like that!" she hissed at me. My grip on her ankle hardened and she yelped quietly as I leant in closer to her looking her straight in the eyes, getting a strong whiff of her scent; lavender and sunshine. If sunshine had a scent, then it would smell like Clary. "Then tell me Clary, if it was such a **_big_** mistake, why did you do it?" I said quietly as my eyes darkened. She looked at me with curiosity and then her gaze faltered.

"I… I don't know" she whispered so quietly I barely heard it. I could see that beneath this hard shell there was just a frightened, kind hearted teenager that just wanted to be loved. I could tell that something had happened to Clary, and it had made her this way because of it.

"Stay with us and let us care for you. I can't promise you complete stability because no one in this world can, but stay with me and the others and you can be a family with us Clary." I took a pause and then continued "I don't know what it is about you Clary, god forbid I don't even know your last name, but I feel drawn to you, and I feel the need to protect you from this damned planet we call home". She sat on the edge of her bed in silence, watching me with an emotion I didn't recognize in her eyes, it was like she was having a battle with herself behind those luminous green eyes, and by the looks of it, neither side was winning. But after a minute of searching for one another, she spoke

"You're a complete and utter fool Jace, but… but I think I can try to trust you, I don't know why, but my instincts tell me to trust you, yet that goes against everything I've drilled into my stupid head. Oh and if you must know, my name is Clary Fray". With that I leaned forward and embraced her into a hug. She stiffened with my touch, but then after a few seconds relaxed, but didn't hug me back.

"Clary, I need you to make me a promise" I whispered into her ear. "When you're ready, tell me what happened, and don't deny that anything didn't happen, because I know that there's a part of you that is damaged for some reason, and I want to help you fix that part".

CLARY'S POV

Jace Herondale. Motherfucking Jace Herondale. No one has an effect on my like this bitch does, and I don't know why. I've known this boy less than 24 hours and already he has coaxed more emotions out of me than I ever planned to express in a lifetime.

And now he's asking me to make promises to unravel myself to him, to leave me naked without my protective shell, telling me to leave the very thing that has kept me alive all this time. And yet I can't stop myself anymore, I **_want _**to give my all to this golden boy, let him see the raw gritty Clary that's rough around the edges but soft within. I want to let him see the old me, the person who was innocent and compassionate, not someone who has done everything in their power to just keep living. And for what? I have nothing in this world that I care about anymore. And that's when it hits me. There's no point to life when you have no one to care about, and when no one cares about you. Life is boring without the ups and downs of love, and everyone, to have a beautiful life, must experience for themselves at least once in their short lifetimes, because no one lives forever.

I lean my head on his shoulder "I can't promise anything, but I will try, I promise to at least try" I breathe in his scent; mint and pepper, it's one of the best scents in the world to me right now, in this very moment. And for the first time in years, I feel at peace.

**_Jace Herondale will be the death of me._**

We eventually detach ourselves and I can see Jace's smirk has returned.

"So little Red, will you be here in the morning?" **_asshole _**I think but I return his smirk and answer, "maybe, but I guess there's only one way to find out" I reply jokingly.

"Oh, I don't know about that, I mean, I could always chain you to the bed if I desired" he winked at me.

"Good luck with that Herondale" I chuckled as I lay down on my bed. I closed my eyes until I heard Jace say "Clary?"

"mmhmm?" I asked; sleep already trying to take me.

"Goodnight" and I could tell he was smiling as he said it.

"Goodnight Jace".

**_So that was chapter two! I feel it was better than the first one as we got a little dose of that Clacey goodness ;)_**

**_Once again thank you for the lovely reviews, follows and favorites (: _**

**_And if you could, review, because it's amazing to hear from you all _**

**_-ToffeeandFudge_**


	3. Chapter 3

**_YOU GUYS ARE FREAKING AWESOME! Yet again thank you for all the lovely reviews and so many views and follows! So I know that Clary's feelings have been kind of rushed but I just want her to warm up so she's easier to work with as a character, but her and Jace wont be getting together just yet though *manic evil laughter* I'm sorry ;)_**

Chapter 3

CLARY'S POV 

My eyes cracked open as the sunlight filtered through the gaps in the walls. I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling as the sun glinted of the strands of my red hair. Last night I had opened up a small part of myself to Jace and even having slept on it, I still wanted him to break me down, bit by bit. I wanted to heal the heartache of my mother and I knew Jace could help me do that.

"Morning biscuit" I sat upright in my bed whilst my head snapped to the side. I relaxed once I saw Magnus had been the source of the voice.

"Hi" I said warily, I hadn't engaged into a real conversation with him yet so I was curious whether he was friendly or hostile like me. He grinned at me "don't looks so nervous, I don't bite" then he winked. I for some stupid fucking reason blushed.**_ What is it with me and motherfucking blushing?! _**I then grinned back, knowing that he was only trying to be friendly.

Me and Magnus sat and talked for a while until the others woke up. We spoke of his past, what vault he came from, how he met Alec and the others. He had been traveling alone like me and he had come across Alec, Izzy and Jace whilst they had been overwhelmed by thieves, he had obviously gone to their aid and saved them, just like I had. The strange thing was, Magnus had originated from the vault in line with mine, vault 167, which his too had been opened 4 years ago. It was from Magnus that I then discovered that the majority of vaults had been forcefully opened before mine. I had never discovered this as I had rarely interacted with other people, I knew that several vaults across America had been open but I had not expected hundreds.

Magnus and Alec had fallen in love with one another almost immediately, and I secretly found it kind of cute that two people could still love each other in such a broken world.

Jace, Alec and Izzy woke up shortly after we had discussed how Magnus had fallen for Alec.

They all greeted me with a 'good morning' all started getting into a clean change of clothes… in front of me. I just sat on my bed whilst three guys and a girl started stripping off in front of me.

"Umm... is this normal for you all?" I asked and all four looked at me with confusion, and then a shirtless Jace laughed **_shirtless Jace, shirtless Jace with them abs! _**I mentally slapped myself. Yet again.

"Don't worry Clary, we won't look… too much" Jace smirked at me and I glared at him whilst pulling out clean clothes that didn't fit properly, I had picked them off a raiders victim and the shirt was too baggy whilst the black jeans were too tight. The only thing that did fit me properly was my underwear and my boots. The perks of living in a nuclear destroyed land.

I began to strip when I heard a comment from Magnus

"Nice butt, biscuit" he said with a sly grin on his face.

"Magnus!" me, Alec and Izzy all said in sync, whilst Jace was uncontrollably laughing whilst leaning on the bed. I just rolled my eyes and then of course Jace had to involve himself too

"You're right Magnus! She does have a nice butt!" with that I quickly pulled up my jeans and glared at him whilst he was giving me his legendary smirk.

I strapped my rifle to my back, put my hand gun in its holster and strapped my knives to my belt and two on each thigh; you could never have too many weapons. I double checked my pack to make sure I had everything, food, water, ammo and clothes were the necessities.

They were all ready to get going shortly after me; Alec had strung a beautiful wooden bow that was now strapped to his back alongside a leather quiver. I'd have to ask how he keeps it in such good condition on a later date. Like me, Izzy had a rifle strapped to her back and Jace and Magnus both had elegant twin glass looking blades attached to their backs in a cross shape.

"Ready to go?" Izzy asked as all, I nodded in reply.

We paid for our night at the 'hotel' with spare food that the group had collected. There wasn't a currency anymore; we just paid with whatever was necessary to keep us alive, food and ammo being the most popular.

As we left through the gates it dawned on me, where were we actually going? For the past two year I had roamed around New York just merely surviving and living. But with this group, I didn't know if they were moving on or staying here.

"Where... Where are we actually going?" I asked cautiously, maybe I was wrong about staying with this group. I think they saw my caution and looked nervously at each other then back at me, saying silent things to one another with their eyes.

JACE'S POV

I froze as Clary asked the inevitable. I didn't know how she would react to us not planning to stay in New York and I really didn't want to lose her now she had opened up slightly. I saw her stance shift like she was ready to dash away like a startled animal.

"Clary, here us out, don't run off, please" Alec said softly as Clary's posture softened very slightly but you could still see the muscles in her jaw, neck and arm were tense. Izzy then spoke confidently which surprised me and she gave us all a look that said **_don't treat her like a wild animal_**.

"Clary, we're not staying in New York, in fact were moving to somewhere better. Our plan is to head to a place called Chicago, but its hundreds of miles away, 811 to be specific."

"That's crazy, you're all mad, it'll take weeks to get there on foot! Why would you even want to go there anyway?!" Magnus then answered her

"It's where they are rebuilding civilization, biscuit" Clary's mouth dropped to the floor

"I… I can't go there! Why would you want to go to a place with so many people?!" she shouted at us all and then she put her face in her hands sighing. "What have I done?" she whispered, "I should have gone whilst you were all sleeping" and she glared up at me giving me a **_you shouldn't have stopped me idiot _**look. Alec stood straight in front of her and tried to hold her chin in his hand but she flinched away. **_Did I even make any progress with this girl last night at all? _**I thought to myself as Alec then began to talk.

"Clary, listen to me, I can see that underneath all the harshness there's a strong, brave beautiful young woman who has had her fair amount of suffering. But you have to listen to me, you can do so much good in this world. Where we are going there will be new opportunities for you, I've seen how you shoot; you could be a guard or protector of what people are calling 'The New World'. You could have a family again Clary, and you mustn't dismiss this opportunity just because of your fear of people from your past. And yes, Jace told us about you're conversation last night." She looked up at me and glared again, I just merely shrugged and then spoke "We're all family here, there's no secrets between us." And with that she rose.

"I will go to Chicago with you all, but under one condition; if I am uncomfortable then I can leave whenever I wish and none of you will try to stop me." I sighed but agreed to the fiery redhead's demands and slightly shocked that she hadn't needed further persuasion. I just hoped she'd stick around.

"But back to my question earlier, how do we all even plan to get there? It'll take weeks by foot and it'll be exhausting." Clary asked inquisitively. Magnus grinned,

"Clary darling, you think we haven't thought this through? Of course we're not going on foot, we'd most likely get attacked that way anyway and the fatigue would be too much. We're going by car!"

"A CAR?! How the hell are we going to get our hands on a goddamn car?! She asked "I thought all cars had been destroyed, and even if there was any left, I doubt any heap of 98 year old rust is going to get us very far. I chuckled

"We're going to sell our souls to the devil to get a car" I smirked and then elaborated from the impatient confused look on her face.

"We know someone who can get us a working car; they're very shady but stay true to their word, if we do them a favor, and I know it'll be a big one, they'll give us a fully working car with gasoline. And then we'll be on our way to Chicago.

"How do we know that we can trust this person? If they're as shady as you say then surely we can't lay our trust in their hands."

"He's an old friend of my fathers, I knew him as a kid in our vault. Since our vault was opened he's accumulated a lot of power and runs a casino a good 20 miles from here. I'm doubting and hoping that he won't screw us over." Clary shook her head but smiled

"What on Earth am I getting myself into?" she joked.

"Everyone likes a little danger every once in a while Miss Fray" I winked and I heard Izzy scoff beside me

"Flirting already I see **_Mr. Herondale_** she said with a jokey sarcastic tone.

"Oh hush you, now lets get moving" they all nodded and began to head toward the south east.

CLARY'S POV

We walked in a defensive formation, Magnus and Alec at the front, me and Jace and the center and Izzy taking the rear. Jace and I had the job of keeping watch of our flanks, Magnus and Alec kept watch up head and Izzy kept us defended from behind. I had to admit, despite how much I hated to, I felt more secure in a group alongside other good fighters; it gave me more security which might one day cure the sleepless nights of me constantly being on guard. I couldn't say that I trusted these people entirely but I kept in mind that if they had wanted me dead, they would have already attempted to kill me. Plus I had nothing to lose anyway, I had no family or friends left, but I would have considered these people worthy of become at least my friends and maybe one day my family, not blood related, but that didn't matter to me anymore.

"So Clary, I know you don't want to tell me about yourself, but how about I tell you a little about me?" Jace whispered in my ear. I smiled at him and said

"Knock yourself out Herondale".

"Well I originate from vault 143 and our vault was opened when I was twelve which was five years ago now.

"So you're seventeen then? A year older than myself." I stated

"Yes, I lived in a rebuilt town for two and a half years after we escaped the vault. That was until it was attacked by a massive swarm of raiders. Many people tried to flee but it was a complete bloodbath, you could hear the people's cries from outside the gates. My mother; Celine, told me to run before they reached our home, meanwhile my father, Steven was outside trying to hold off the raiders. I had peaked outside through a crack in the wall to see a raider slice a blade into my father's stomach as he had fallen to the ground. It wasn't a pleasant sight for a 14 and a half year old to see, his pain stricken face is behind my eyelids every night I go to sleep. I miss him like hell."

I walked beside him quietly and murmured "I know how it feels to lose someone you love". He smiled weakly at me,

"I know, I can see beneath it all you're still grieving. I can tell they must have meant a great deal to you." I was silent after this and Jace continued.

"My mother guided me to a hidden door under the carpet that lead to a complex of tunnels that were beneath the town, she told me to just keep heading forward, no matter how dark it was. I had tried to convince her to come with me but she only kissed me on my forehead whilst taking my hand in hers and placing the Herondale ring on a chain in it." Jace brought his hand to his neck and pulled a silver chain with a ring on, out of his t-shirt.

"This is the ring she gave me; she once told me that this ring had been passed down for many generations in the Herondale family. After that she handed me a blade and shut the door on me. I had no other choice but to continue onwards as she had locked the door above me." I stayed silent for a few seconds after he finished, seeing if he would tell me any more. But instead he turned his head around to look at me and said

"I expect some of your past too for me to tell you the ending" he winked.

"No promises Goldilocks" I chuckled in return.

Hours passed of talking about nothing in particular, I was just starting to find out that I was with a hilarious bunch of people who always looked on the bright side of life. It was kind of refreshing I had to admit.

Jace then called the others to a stop.

"We should start searching for a place to set up camp, its starting to get dark but can see a cave up ahead in the cliffs, it doesn't look like a high climb to get to either and nothing will look for us there." Izzy and Alec nodded and we repositioned ourselves in our previous formation and walked towards the small cave ahead, all of us walking in a mutual silence.

After we had climbed up a small potion of the cliff to get to the cave we laid down our packs inside and Magnus got to work on making a small fire just at the entrance whilst Izzy offered to prepare the food, with this Alec shouted out

"Good god no! I'll sort out the food, I don't want every one dying from food poisoning" and Izzy scowled at him but in a loving sisterly way, it was clear that she knew she couldn't cook to save her life.

Alec prepared the bird that I had so proudly shot earlier that day, clean through the head and then put on the fire to cook.

I dropped down onto my back outside the cave onto the edge of the cliff and looked up to the beautiful pink sky that was being created by the sunset. The soft fluffy looking clouds passed overhead and I felt what could only be described as inner peace. I stayed like that for a while until the sky faded to a dark blue and bright, white twinkling stars popped out of the sky staring down on me. I heard someone settle down beside me and of course it was Jace. The full moon had come out and was shining onto his hair making it look silvery instead of gold.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" I nodded in silence and we both lay there, under the shining moon and stars, with my head rested upon his shoulder and his arm under my head. in peace, even if it was just for one night.

**_Okay so this chapter took me forever because I'm just a pro at procrastination and plus I got the new legend of Zelda game this week and I've been slightly engrossed (slightly being a massive understatement) with it, so what little free time I get I've spent playing on it, I'm sorry ;)_**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**_Here's chapter 4, and to those of you who are guests, make an account so I can reply to your wonderful comments! Don't forget to review, it motivates me ;) x_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own ze mortal instruments or any of that shit _**

JACE'S POV

I soon had fallen asleep after Clary. I looked at her beautiful red hair under the moonlight whilst she was peacefully sleeping and I knew I was already falling for her, I had never believed in love at first sight until now. It was a shame my love was probably unrequited though. She had snuggled into my chest then, showing me her face with the light dusting of freckles across her cheek bones and her little upturned nose. I sighed, wishing this night would last forever, and tomorrow we'd reach the casino and meet its owner; Asmodeus. Asmodeus who made very generous deals but made you pay a heavy price for them, I was dreading what his price would be for something as valuable for a car. Whatever it would be, it would be worth it, and besides, I had Clary to look out for now. She was part of our somewhat dysfunctional, but happy family. I had laid my head down and fell asleep like a rock for the first time in months after that final thought.

I cracked my eyes open to sunlight and to find the warmth that was Clary was gone. I immediately thought she had left in the night like she said she should have done, but when I sat upright I saw that her pack was upright against the wall like it had been left last night, but the rifle beside that was gone. I stood up pushing a hand through my messy tangled hair and turned around to look of the edge of the cliff but Clary was still no where in sight. I would have been lying if I said I wasn't worried if she had run off or if she had been attacked, but I decided to push it aside knowing she wouldn't have left her pack behind even if it meant causing us a distraction for us not to follow her.

I suddenly heard a bullet whiz past my head and hit the cave wall behind me; I immediately ducked down and scanned the landscape from the direction of the bullet. I narrowed my eyes as I saw the little redhead step out from behind a boulder grinning at me from below. I saw she had 3 good sized rabbits and what looked like a bag of fish that she must have hunted, hanging from her belt and I raised an eyebrow and gave her an impressed look.

"You could have killed me you know" I said loudly with mock hurt so she could hear me.

"How do you know that isn't what I was trying to do?" she said as her grin widened.

"Because you have a far better shot than that" I chuckled "Now get up her and make me my breakfast, woman" she rolled her eyes and then gave me a disapproving snort whilst heading towards me and climbing the cliff beneath me.

I helped pull her up and she greeted me with a sly grin and a 'good morning'. I nodded whilst smiling. **_She's so beautiful _**I thought as she began preparing the meat in front of me.

"Do you think you could go find some water since all your lazy friends are still sleeping, you all sleep in so late, I've been up for three hours now" she laughed lightly. **_She has the most amazing laugh too _**I thought as I smiled at her.

"Yeah, I'll wake up Alec and bring him with me, its not always safe to go alone" I said, still smiling at the short little redhead. I swiftly picked up one of the fishes and walked over to Alec still peaceful sleeping in his sleeping bag. With an evil grin on my face I quickly slapped Alec across the face with the fish and he instantly jolted, sitting straight in his sleeping bag with a terrified expression on his face. I fell to my knees close to crying with laughter as Alec recovered himself quickly and glared at me.

"Did you HAVE to do that?" he said looking down at the fish. I heard Clary laughing behind us, "Can you not play with your food Herondale?" she laughed. I turned back to Alec, "come on lazy, we need to go fetch some water, we're running low" with that Alec growled but started to get up and reach his pack to get his clothes.

I sat on the edge of the cliff, my legs dangling off the edge waiting for Alec until he joined me. We climbed down the rock face and began to head towards a lake we had seen on the way to our cave. After a few minutes of walking in silence, Alec spoke.

"You really are falling for that girl aren't you" I looked up at him, gold hair falling into my gold eyes.

"Is it that obvious?" I asked quietly

"Pretty much, but she seems oblivious to me. She's that damaged I don't think she recognizes what love is anymore. Whatever happened to her, it messed her up real bad" I nodded, knowing everything he was saying was true. I suddenly had the guilty urge of wanting Clary to be a different person. Sure she was strong, beautiful, skilled, brave and had a beautiful heart, but she was damaged, and our love would be hopeless because I was damaged too. I just never showed my heartache on the outside because I had to be strong for the others. Two damaged people together would not help one another; we would only destroy each other further, pushing ourselves deeper into oblivion.

But like hell that was going to stop me, we only live once and I wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to be happy, even if it was only temporary.

I grinned at Alec "Then I'll have to have a go at healing her, then I'll make her mine."

Alec then clapped his hand on my shoulder "I wish you good luck then, brother" but instead of smiling at me, Alec's face was worried and serious and his tone matched his expression. I shook off his concern. Clary would be happy with me eventually, everyone has a weakness in their hostility, and it was just a matter of finding hers before I was too late.

CLARY'S POV

Alec and Jace returned about half an hour later with about 5 liters of water, not clean water, but still water. They set it down and took the food I had cooked on the fire. Izzy and Magnus had woken up soon from the smell the roasting meat. Whilst everyone ate I got to work on purifying the water with the precious iodine I had picked up from a dead traveler a few months ago, it was a rare find and I was quite pleased with myself because there was a lot of it.

After purifying the water I sat down with the rest of the group grabbing a portion of the fish and ate with them.

"How many miles do we have left until we reach this casino then?" I asked

"Roughly about 2-3 miles, which will take us a few hours maximum" Jace answered whilst smiling at me, again. **_He seems to be smiling at me a lot lately_**…I thought to myself silently, **_stop being so ridiculous,_** I told myself,**_ a guy as nice and as good as looking as him has no interest in you. _**

"Don't be so sure little red" Jace winked at me, I then realized everyone but me and Jace had gotten up and was arranging their packs. **_Shit. I really need to stop speaking my mind out loud, I'm around people now. _**"Sorry," I blushed, "I usually just say what's on my mind; it's an old habit".

"Just for the record, you're perfect for me" he whispered in my ear whilst giving me a shy smile. He then got up, leaving me sitting there with my mouth open. **_Jace Herondale shy? Shy?! And he said I was perfect for him, what the fudge does that mean?! _**Without questioning it, I stood up and grabbed my already made pack.

"We all ready to go then?" Izzy asked. I nodded whilst Magnus gave a quick 'yes'.

We walked in similar formation as the day before, but this time me and Izzy were up front with Jace at the back and Alec and Magnus in the center. I found myself suddenly curious as to where her and Alec came from since I knew mostly everything about the other two. "Izzy, I hope you don't mind me asking, but which vault did you come from?" she sheathed her knives and tuned to me with a friendly expression. "Alec and I both came from Vault 165, it was opened around a year and a half ago now" my lips parted into a little o in shock. "Your vault is right next to mine too! Just like Magnus's! His was opened four years ago, mine two years and yours a year and a half ago. Its… it's like they're connected somehow" I said, fiddling with a bit of my hair in nervousness. Whatever this was, it didn't sound good, why were the vaults just opened one after another causing chaos for their unprepared residents? I had a dark feeling in the pit of my stomach that this had something to do with my father and my brother and I didn't like it at all. But I kept quiet about it; I didn't need to alert the others about something that could be nothing just yet, and plus that would mean I would have to explain what was going on with me, and I wasn't ready to do that just yet. Isabelle looked at me curiously like she could see that I was hiding something but then quickly dismissed it. I couldn't help but feel relieved.

"right now I don't think we should worry about this, right now we need to worry about what Jace's **_friend _**is going to make us do to make him give us a car, and there's other people in this group who aren't comfortable visiting this guy" Izzy's voice lowered "Magnus isn't on very good terms with this bastard but even he agrees we have no other choice" I opened my mouth to speak but Izzy put her finger to my mouth and smiled,

"You're very inquisitive Clary, but the questions will have to wait, we're here now".

I turned my head forward to see that we were walking into what looked like a lively area of the city. My eyes widened as it was like nothing I had ever seen before. The old buildings were still in one piece even with what looked like a few repairs that had been made. But what fascinated me most were the lights. Electricity ran through this part of the city, lining the streets with bright red neon to white flashing bulbs. But despite my fascination, as we got closer I could see that the place was sleazy. Business's from casinos, to bars to strip clubs lined the streets, all with electricity and sultry music coming from inside. Music. I had never really heard any music before, not if you considered the soft melodies my mother used to sing to me when I was younger back in the vault.

We all came into a huddle, and I felt Jace grab my hand but refused to let go when I flinched. He leaned down and whispered in my ear, "Stay with me at all times, as badass as you are, and I know you could pretty much kick anyone's ass, this is no place for women." I nodded understanding and I looked in front of me to see Izzy flanked by Magnus and Alec, both with broad shoulders and with a protective posture saying **_come close and you die_**. We walked to the end of the street, whilst I was trying to avoid the hungry looks from men who were looking at me and Izzy. At the end was what was probably the biggest building in the area, it looked surprisingly tidy considering the place it was in, the double doors we're open and the dim glow of lights filtered through. Big white neon letters around 2 meters above the door spelt out "CASINO" and I could tell this was the place Jace was speaking of.

We walked up the steps of the building and entered through the doors. Inside wasn't as appealing as it was outside. Inside the floor was covered with red carpet and dimmed lights shone above us, the air was somewhat foggy from cigarettes and what could possibly be drugs smoke. People lay half awake on couches at the side of the room intoxicated and unable to control their inhibitions. Others were sitting at tables gambling away their money and others were buying booze, soon to follow the people on the couches. Finally, women walked around wearing barely any clothes delivering the drinks that had just been brought, I had never been into a place like this and I didn't want to ever again.

I didn't cower away and grasp Jace like any sane woman would, no; I held my head up high and kept the scowl that I had perfected over the many years on my face. I would not let a bunch of disgusting men intimidate me.

I glanced along the faces but stopped when I locked eyes with a handsome boy that looked slightly older than me with dark black eyes and black hair. He looked slightly familiar. Maybe I had seen him before or something, but I dismissed the thought as I was distracted by his predatory gaze. I had never seen anyone look at me with so much lust and jealously in their eyes before and it made me feel physically sick. I glared at him and looked away, my grip tightening on Jace.

We made our way to the bar and Jace then spoke to the bartender with a harsh clipped tone.

"We're here to talk to Asmodeus"

**_Hate it? Love it? Review maybe? _****_J_******

**_-ToffeeandFudge_**


	5. Chapter 5

_**NOT A CHAPTER!**_

_**So firstly Id just like to apologise for my absence and my lack of uploading. I'm going to be completely honest with everyone, I'm having a really shitty time at the minute, I'm suffering from mild depression and my grandad is in hospital and has only a few months left to live. I'm not looking for pity but I just wanted everyone to understand why I haven't been uploading for a long time. I'm now going to be trying my best to get chapters out and it will be somewhat easier now I can write them on my new phone now. Thank you again for all your support on this story because it's a really big encouragement! **_

_**Once again I'm sorry :( **_

_**-ToffeeandFudge xxx**_


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